Pandemic set the baseline for co-op games in my world. It’s brutal, challenging, fun, victorious, and horrific all at the same time. That constant back-and-forth shudder is precisely what makes the game so goddamn amazing.

Pandemic sets you and your comrades against 4 deadly, aggressive viruses, represented by candylike gem pieces, which you should definitely not eat. Each virus spreads like wildfire through a different region of the globe, and you must develop vaccines for all of them before any become too widespread and murders the human race. Just so you’re prepared: this is probably going to happen. The latter, that is. I mean, you’re all going to die.

Each character has a different skillset. The Medic, for example, is great for healing heavily-diseased areas, while the Doctor has an easier time creating vaccines. You’ll find yourselves perpetually tweaking your strategy, often caught between multiple possible solutions, none of which are guaranteed to work, and all of which leave the door open for the game to sneak it and throttle you from your undefended flank. Does it sound like a stress-filled, desperate hellscape yet? Good. It is.

But don’t worry! It gets worse!

If the fates conspire against you and you draw the wrong card at the wrong time, you’ve got yourself an Outbreak on your hands. That festering pustule bursts like an overripe mosquito, spattering disease into adjacent cities, just like your favorite pathogens do in real life. If you’re especially lucky, Outbreaks can chain together for one massive, ultimate choke-fest. Too many Outbreaks, and you lose the game immediately. With the cards literally stacked against you, I can guarantee that you’ll play a game or three which are utterly doomed from the start.

And yet, I FUCKING LOVE this game.

My first two attempts at survival both ended in catastrophe, but I still wanted more. Defining your strategy is sliding along the razor’s edge of reactive play and dynamic planning. You’ll often find yourself wishing you’d taken your last turn differently as soon as the next turn begins, but, well… that’s life, player. Reset can be done quickly, and if you embrace speedplay you can get a few games in before exhaustion utterly devours your soul.

If you love a good challenge and cooperative play, Pandemic could easily be your happy place. Well, perhaps happy is not the right word. In fact, you’ll almost certainly die. But look on the bright side! At least you’ll die with your friends.

Score: 5/5

A final word of warning: If you have players in your group whose idea of co-op play is demanding that everyone take their turns the way THEY want, this is a bad game for your group. More to the point, that person is a bad PERSON for your group, and you should have a nice, long, forgiving chat about how they need to learn to play well with others, or leave and never return.

KAIBOT HOUSE RULE:

The character of the RESEARCHER has a misprint. She should be able to TAKE and RECEIVE cards from anyone as an action on anyone’s turn, not just GIVING them to others on her turn. If her power were used only as written, her title would be Graduate Student Instructor, not Researcher. No, I haven’t checked with the game designers on this, I am unilaterally declaring it to be so.